


Please insert your (sand) dollar here

by Sugarplume02



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Goode High School (Percy Jackson), I'm Bad At Tagging, Inspired By Tumblr, vending machines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:46:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25404838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sugarplume02/pseuds/Sugarplume02
Summary: Percy just wants to pay for his Chips Ahoy with the sea dollar he got from his dad. Too bad it doesn't fit in vending machines.The guy in line behind him just wants to pay for his Cheez-its.Inspired by kyrstin on Tumblr//theglitterati on Ao3
Comments: 12
Kudos: 90





	Please insert your (sand) dollar here

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this because I'm pretty sure no one else has. Based on: https://kyrstin.tumblr.com/post/163291965533/please-imagine-being-the-person-in-line-behind

Alex was having a bad day _before_ he got in line for the vending machine. He just knows he failed his math test that he took second period, and he completely froze up while giving his English speech. All he wants now is to get an overpriced bag of Cheez-its to munch on before he has to go through another two hours of the American education system. Unfortunately, someone got to the machine before him, and was taking their sweet time.

From the looks of it, the kid was probably a freshman. Maybe he just didn’t know how the vending machines here worked? They could be pretty finicky, and even Alex had to learn how to put the bills in the machine just right. He had an upperclassman teach him the ways of the machine, so he should be that upperclassman for this freshman. With a sigh, Alex tapped on the kid’s shoulder.

“Do you need help?” The kid looked back, his sea-green eyes conveying both frustration and resignation. Noting that the presumptive freshman hadn’t succeeded in getting any money in the machine, he decided to multitask and teach this kid how to work the machine and get his precious Cheez-its at the same time.

With a sigh, Alex pulled out his dollar bills and looked the kid in the eyes. “Listen. We’ve all been there. All you have to do is pull your bill out, insert it face up at a 35 degree angle, wiggle it from 2 to 8 times, and then pray to the vending machine gods that the bill won’t spit out. Do the bills first, coins second, because if you do coins first the vending machine won’t accept bills and you’ll have to put in at least three dollars worth of coins. Got all of that?”

The kid nodded. “I think so. But could you demonstrate, ah…”  
  


“My name’s Alex.”

“You go first. Percy, the way.”

Alex followed all of his own instructions, successfully inserting five dollar bills before selecting his prize. His snack and money came out of the machine, and he was tempted to just leave this Percy kid to struggle because there were only ten minutes left of lunch. Out of the kindness of his heart, he settled on just snacking while instructing.

“See?”

“I think I’ve got it. One question, though. What side of this is the face side?”  
  


To Alex’s dismay, Percy did not pull out a dollar bill from his pocket. Instead, he pulled out a sea dollar, and passed it off to Alex.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a normal dollar on you, do you?” Percy gave a solemn shake of his head. Sea dollar it was, then. After careful consideration and examining both sides of the dollar, Alex came to a conclusion.

“I have a feeling the side with the most scratches is the face. So, this side?” He passed the mollusk back to Percy and began to walk him through the steps of the vending machine again.

“Okay, so insert the sea dollar face up at a 35 degree angle.” Percy tried, but no matter how he positioned it, the sea dollar just wouldn’t fit in the dollar bill hole.

“Why-“ Percy shoved it into the hole again- “won’t-” and again- “it-“ and again- “fit!”

“It just doesn’t seem like the vending machine accepts sand dollars. It’s okay, the vending machine rarely even accepts normal dollars.” Percy mumbled something about using the sand dollar wisely. Alex wished the sand dollar would’ve worked, if not for the story he could tell to his friends. At this point, the best he could hope for is that he might’ve taught this freshman how to use the vending machine.

Before Alex could walk away, Percy grabbed his arm. “Wait, I’ve got an idea.” Based on his current idea track record of wanting to put an ocean creature in a vending machine, Alex stayed around for at least the show. Putting another Cheez-it in his mouth, he gestured at Percy to continue.

“What if, now hear me out, I just kick it really hard.” Not as interesting as Percy’s previous idea, Alex mused, but it could work.

“What item are you aiming for?”

“The Chips Ahoy.”

Alex walked around the machine, considering. “If you hit it right here,” he pointed towards the bottom left of the machine, “you should have a pretty good shot of knocking it out of the rings. Be careful though. If the lunch monitors catch you doing this, you could become the kid that banned vending machines.” Alex could’ve sworn he heard Percy mumble something about already being the one who set the band room on fire, but he decided to ignore that. “I’ll give you the go when you’re in the clear.”

There were a tense few seconds until both of the monitors were distracted by something else. “Alright, go!”

Percy only got about two solid kicks in when the tremor hit. No one else seemed to notice in the cafeteria, but Alex could’ve sworn the ground around him, Percy, and the vending machine was slightly shaking. Oddly enough, the vending machine shook just enough that a single pack of Chips Ahoy cookies fell down.

Percy bent down to pick up his snack. “Huh. Guess the kicking worked after all. Want one?”

“Sure.”

Percy carefully unwrapped the package and handed Alex a cookie. “Thanks for the help, Alex.”

The lunch bell rang, and before they could exchange any more words, Percy left and met up with a redhead girl that was walking towards them. Alex, still in a bit of disbelief of what just happened, stood still for a second before walking towards his group of friends.

“Hey guys, how much do you think you can sell a sand dollar for? Would it be enough to buy a pack of Chips Ahoy cookies? Asking for a-“ Alex looked back at Percy who was currently in a conversation with the redhead. “an acquaintance.”

“I’m sure it’s worth enough for a pack from a vending machine. Maybe even two?”

“Thanks. I’ll tell him tomorrow.”


End file.
